Weekly Selfie 3 - Ana Mendieta

Aileen Herrera Ojeda

“At The Looks at What Women See”, Nina Siegal

“Today that may not sound so special, but then in those times it was incredibly important,” she said. “They created a shift, a change in perspective, from being the model, the person a painter is looking at, to being the painter herself.”

Women were often the muse or focus of paintings, usually depicting their bodies and femininity but as women were finally given their space in the art world that changed. Women finally could express themselves in this aspect which led to the female gaze. How women saw themselves was finally different.

“Overlooked No More: Ana Mendieta, a  Cuban Artist Who Pushed Boundaries” Monica Castillo

“And she takes all of these things to the world at large that might not be considered fine arts. She turns them into something intelligent, harrowing and emotional.”

While looking at Ana Mendieta’s work I can definitely see the raw emotions and the feelings that she was trying to convey. Her usage of nature is also so interesting as a way to see the female figure. I think since Mendieta's time we've seen that be used more and more

“Ways of Seeing”, John Berger

“And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman.”

It's so interesting how women could be both the person surveyed and the one surveying. I had never really thought of it as that.

“One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object—and most particularly an object of vision: a sight”

When first reading this quote my jaw was literally on the floor. I think this is something that all women have, it's just an ingrained part of being a women, where you look at yourself through both the female and male gaze

Inspiration

Ana Mendieta "Sweating Blood" (1973)

Recreation

I decided to recreate this picture in particular because I just thought the concept was super cool and interesting. I was having a hard time choosing from Ana Mendieta's work but I'm glad I went with this one.